Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge – Thermal, California
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, March 23, 2024
RAHAL, LUNDGAARD AND FITTIPALDI EARN TOP STARTING POSITIONS FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE HEAT RACES AND AIM TO BE IN THE 12-DRIVER FIELD FOR SUNDAY’S $1 MILLION CHALLENGE
HEAT RACE 1 QUALIFYING:
1) Felix Rosenqvist 1:38.5831 / 111.999 mph
4) Christian Lundgaard 1:38.6394 / 111.935 mph
HEAT RACE 2 QUALIFYING:
1) Alex Palou 1:38.5675 / 112.017 mph
3) Graham Rahal 1:38.9723 / 111.558 mph
6) Pietro Fittipaldi 1:39.1117 / 111.402 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Code 3 Associates Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “That was just an old fashioned, pull it (lap time) out, sort of thing. I just need the balance and brake locking to be consistent and I struggled with it so much. Before the red, I went into Turn 2 and was up, on a better lap than I ended up with but lst the rear tires and lost the lap. For Cose 3 Associates, and everybody at RLL, yeah, we pulled it out but it was nice to feel the competitiveness. And without as much overtake as others, we were still very competitive there and were able to put one in. It gives us a good starting pot for tomorrow. This is a pleasant surprise for me.”
PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We qualified sixth in our group but I’m disappointed because we were on a really fast lap but unfortunately, I got traffic and I had used all my Push to Pass and then the red flag came out. We went out again for one lap and, honestly, I thought we were done because we didn’t have any Push to Pass left. And Push to Pass will gain you about 7/10th quicker on the lap and we went out and finished the lap without it and ended up P6 so I’m frustrated because I know with it, we could have been somewhere in the top three, top two. The car was very, very fast. Great job to the whole team. We’re evolving and I’m happy and very thankful to the team.”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s (short qualifying format) for sure full commitment. I don’t honestly know what Santino was doing (ahead on track). I don’t know if he was just that slow but from Turn 7 and the rest of the track at the back, I knew that he was going to be in the way and it was going to be a problem. I think we had at least a half a tenth but we’re behind Felix so it’s a bummer but I think we showed our true pace earlier. I’ve got a feeling that they’re looking at us as the most competitive car so I think they should be worried. I think we should just go out there and have fun, we’re competitive so I’m happy. I think the heat race is going to be a very different strategy compared to the main race but at the same time you’ve got to take the heat race first. If you’re not in the top six you won’t make it to the main race so there are many ways to approach it, but I think the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda is going to have the right strategy.”
NEXT UP: The first of two heat races will take the Green Flag on Sunday at 9:31 a.m. PT. The top six finishers of each Heat Race will progress to the All Star Race that will take the Green Flag at 10:59 a.m. PT. The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM ET on Sunday, March 24.